Beautiful, Beautiful Niece
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: Fics have been written about Rose discovering the events of Malfoy Manor. Heck, I wrote a version of that several years ago. But what would have happened if Harry's daughter had uncovered that dark past... by accident? Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Innocence Lost

**Chapter 1: Innocence Lost**

6-year-old Lily Potter was happily prancing about her daddy's office. He was out for a minute, placing a call, having decided to stay and work from home that day. Lily Potter loved those days. Ever since her brothers had gone off to Muggle primary school, the house had gotten quite lonely. She appreciated how her parents always tried their level-best to make time for her around their busy careers and home lives.

Lily tried now to clamber up on her father's desk. If he came back and she was lying on his papers, he very well couldn't work and then they could play some more. As her tiny body scaled Harry's swivel chair, her hand accidentally pushed out as she tried to get a grip on the polished wood, pushing her away from the desk. The desk chair ran into something - Daddy's Pensieve. Lily knew she wasn't ever supposed to touch it, and usually it was locked, in Daddy's closet, but he had needed to use it in order to help place his business call.

Now colliding with the Pensieve, Lily flailed as she lost her balance... and fell backwards into the Pensieve.

* * *

Lily landed in a cold, dark room. It was big and spacious, with a bunch of old furniture. A witch with wild, black hair was yelling and screaming at seemingly everyone present. Then suddenly, she grabbed for a young woman and dragged her into the center of the room. The young version of this woman, she had seen in pictures - a family photo on Daddy's desk; a wedding picture on her Uncle and Auntie's dresser.

Auntie...

Whirling around, Lily watched as her Uncle Ron and her father were flung back, dragged down towards a scary, dank basement.

"Daddy? DADDY!" Lily screamed. He couldn't hear her.

Images came fast and hard now, Lily bouncing around from the basement to the room upstairs. She stood still, frozen with terror, as the mean witch with the wild black hair started hurting Auntie. Auntie screamed, and Lily began to scream and cry.

Then, Daddy came. Daddy always came to save the day, he was... Daddy. And Uncle Ron was right behind him. A house-elf appeared, one who looked a lot nicer than Kreacher (though, admittedly, Kreacher could be quite friendly once you got to know him, he seemed to like Lily well enough). A flash of silver from the mean witch with the wild black hair, and then -

Nothing, as Lily suddenly felt herself being dragged back up to the surface.


	2. Chapter 2: Panic

**Chapter 2: Panic**

Lily sat, huddled and cold and sniffling, in the corner of the Pensieve, just at the edge of the closet. The door to Harry's study opened, and her father came in.

"All right, Lily Bear, that call's done..." Harry stopped short, growing tense at his daughter's expression. He looked from her, then up to the Pensieve, which had somehow been left open; he must have forgotten to close it. And what was his desk chair doing all the way over there?

"Lils? What's wrong, sweetums?"

Lily began to cry, to her father's great distress, and whimpered. "I... I fell in! I was playing... wanting to get on your desk... I didn't mean to... I'm sorry."

In three quick strides, Harry was at her side, kneeling in front of her. "It's OK, Lily Bear, just... what did you see?"

Lily froze, her eyes betraying a fear that Harry never wanted to see on her face again. Slowly starting to panic, Harry forgot himself for a moment, and gave her a little shake. _"Answer me!"_ he demanded, regretting the harshness in his tone the minute the words left his lips. He made a point to only use that tone around Albus and James when the boys were misbehaving. Lily was still too little. And besides, she was a good little girl, did practically everything that you told her. Which is why this was so out-of-character for her.

Lily visibly shook, her lip trembling. Then, she burst into tears. "Aunt... Auntie..."

Harry frowned, wheeling through the four sisters-in-law in his head. Then a fifth candidate fell into his mind: Petunia? Maybe she saw a memory of his hellish childhood days by mistake. "Auntie? Which Auntie, Lils? You're gonna have to be a little more specific..."

"Aunt... Hermione. There was a bad witch with... wild black hair... and a knife."

Recognition dawned, and Harry stood, his eyes filled with horror. "Oh, my holy Merlin..." Next second, he had grabbed Lily, picked her up and cuddled her close, marching down the stairs. Ginny met them on the landing.

"What's wrong?"

"Landline. Call your brother." At Ginny's blank stare (she did have five brothers, four of whom were still living), he elaborated shortly, "Ron!"

Ginny knocked the landline off its hook and flipped it to her husband, who cradled it in the crook of his ear. The dial tone mocked him. "Come on, come on... Hermione... pick up, 'Mione... pick up, pick up, pick up..." At least, he hoped she answered. Ron still wasn't the best at talking on the telephone (or as he sometimes mangled the phrase, "fellytone.").

After the fourth ring, Hermione's voice came on the line. "Weasley residence, Hermione speaking."

"Hermione, where are you?"

"Folding laundry, why? I took the day off. Ron's at the shop."

"Great. I need you to Floo over here now. It's about Lily."

"Harry, what happened?"

"Just get over here. Please!"

"I'm on my way."

* * *

A few minutes later, there was a rush of green flame and Hermione stepped from the fireplace. Right away, her youngest niece's eyes locked onto hers, and she reached for her.

"Auntie Hermione!" Lily practically flew into her arms.

"Well, now," Hermione chuckled, to hide her own fear. "What's this? What's the matter, my little gumdrop? Tell Auntie..."

Lily relaxed in Hermione's embrace, burying her nose in her porcelain skin, inhaling her sweet scent. She sank into Hermione's gentle rocking of her and humming to her the way one sinks into a warm bath. The little girl stuck her finger in her mouth and sucked. Second to her mother, her godmother was her favorite person in the world. "Mummy..." she murmured.

Hermione's lips upturned into a smile. It was now an old joke between them. When Lily was a baby, she had gone through a phase where she thought Hermione was her mother. Ginny had pretended not to be hurt by it, Ron was... Ron about it, thinking it was hilarious, and Harry had just awkwardly hoped that it was what it ultimately became: a phase.

Hermione turned to her brother-in-law. "What happened?" But before he could speak, Lily pulled her thumb out of her mouth long enough to ask:

"Auntie? Is the witch with the wild black hair going to hurt you again?"

Hermione frowned, not quite getting what she was talking about. She looked to Harry for help, but he only gave her a pointed stare.

In that moment, she understood. Hermione gasped sharply, making Lily squirm with concern in her arms; the adult witch went white as a sheet. "How...?"

"I left out my Pensieve, and forgot to lock it up again. I turn my back for five minutes to make a call, and she fell in."

Hermione looked traumatized. "How much did she see?" she whispered.

"From the little I could get out of her... all of it?" Harry winced.

Blinking back tears, Hermione burrowed Lily into her hair, cuddling the child close. "Of course not, precious! Of course the bad witch isn't going to hurt Auntie anymore! I promise."

Tears splashing down the front of Hermione's jumper, Lily sniffed. "I wish... Mummy and Daddy had had me then. The bad witch could have hurt me instead."

Hermione nearly moaned with anguish. "Oh, dear one, don't say that! Don't let me ever, _ever_ hear you say that..." Her gaze locked onto Harry's, the tears in his eyes mirroring her own. Ginny was full-blown weeping, and not even bothering to hide it. Sometimes, none of the family could fathom how such a little darling could be so generous of heart. Well, Harry could, but it was something that only he could fully understand...

"Lily..." Hermione began slowly. "You know everyone is safe now, and we all love you. We're not going anywhere... Lily?" Her only answer was slow, even breathing. "Well, would you look at that - she's asleep."

Harry smirked. "You always can get her to go down."

Hermione smiled weakly. "She sleeps like her Daddy." Harry grunted in slight disagreement, but he let the moment pass.

"I'll put her to bed," Ginny murmured quietly. She gingerly took Lily from Hermione's arms and turned for the stairs. Harry stalked for the kitchen, his trod heavy and only ever seen when he was thinking hard (it was his version of pacing, to prowl everywhere with an intense look on his face). Biting her lip, Hermione followed.

Harry was at the sink, doing some of the dishes, and wordlessly, Hermione moved to help him. It was muscle memory, how they fell into the routine from so many years ago, washing up after dinner in the tent during the weeks Ron had... had been away.

After a prolonged silence, Hermione spoke. "When are you going to tell the boys?"

"Not until after they've graduated Hogwarts. I don't want it to negatively affect their studies. That's my policy, and Ginny agrees with me."

"Not when they come of age? Harry, James is going to be 18 by the time he walks for his diploma!"

"Muggles come of age when they turn 18; you and I both know that," Harry placated her gently. "And really, what difference does a year make?"

"It makes a whole lot of difference to a young man, who you and I both know is a bit of a hothead!" Hermione chided gently.

Harry snorted, passing a plate to the dishwasher. "He is at that."

Hermione grinned. "He takes after his uncle."

"Which one?" Harry cracked. Though he knew perfectly well which one.

He paused in his work when he felt Hermione's hand on his arm. Only she and Ginny could calm him effectively. "It's not your fault, you know," but she didn't seem to be referencing the Pensieve anymore.

Harry half-dropped, half-threw an errant fork into the sink. "I had one job. One job: to protect my family. And that night, I didn't do it! I failed!"

"Sssh. No, you didn't. You did not fail. And if Ron were here, he would say the same thing."

Harry scoffed. "You sure about that?"

Hermione's brow furrowed. "He'd ruddy well better, if he knows what's good for him!"

He turned to her. "I'm sorry..."

"Harry -"

"If I had been just a little bit faster... hell, had my head screwed on better..."

"Stop. We've been over this; I forgive you. Heck, I don't think I've ever consciously blamed you; I never would."

"True. But you're never gonna stop me from not blaming myself. From forgiving myself."

Hermione eyed him hard, then sighed. "Be that as it may. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna try, big brother." She kissed his cheek, then slid into his arms. "I love you," she murmured.

Harry rested his head on top of hers, breathing deeply. "I know."


	3. Chapter 3: I Like Warm Hugs

**Chapter 3: I Like Warm Hugs**

Hermione Apparated back into her and Ron's bedroom. Leaning against the doorjamb, she buried her face in her hand and wept. Allowed herself to come apart for the first time all day since Harry had called her.

There was a sudden, second CRACK! and she jumped, nearly screamed. And there was her husband, fussing with his magenta WWW robes. "Great day..." he was muttering to himself. "Inventory stocked... Skiving Snackboxes sold... oh, evening, love!" Then Ron did a double-take and paused. "Hey... are you OK?"

Hermione pursed her lips, shaking her head as she tried in vain to blink back the tears, and threw herself into her husband's arms, coming apart on his shoulder. Ron hugged her back, rocked her gently, as if it was second nature. And some of it was. "Hermione...? Babe, you're scaring me..."

"We... we have... a beautiful, _beautiful_ niece, Ronald Weasley. Do you have _any_ idea?"

Ron chuckled. "I should hope I do. But which niece, love? There are..." he paused as he did the mental count in his head. "Eight of them. And two of them are part Veela, for Merlin's sake!"

Hermione hiccuped through a laugh, and leaned back, her arms draped around the nape of his neck. "Our goddaughter."

"Lily?" Ron frowned. "What about Lily? What's wrong? Is she all right?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "She fell into Harry's Pensieve by accident; he was out of the room taking a business call. She... she saw Malfoy Manor."

Ron leaned back, his eyes wide. "Bloody hell! How much?"

Hermione bit her lip, and echoed Harry's words. "All of it."

Ron swore fluidly under his breath. "That git! That absolute _idiot_! She's six, for heaven's sake!"

"Now, don't blame Harry; it was an accident! Apparently, she was trying to stand on his desk chair, and it tipped her back."

Ron rested a fist on his chin, brooding. Finally: "How did she look? Bad?"

Hermione shook her head, trying to dislodge the memory. "She was _hysterical_ , Ron. Didn't seem sure I was safe until she could touch me. And she said..." her voice broke. "She said if Harry and Ginny had had her back then, she would have wanted Bellatrix to torture her instead."

Ron let out a long, low breath. "She has too much of her grandmother in her." And he wasn't talking about Molly. There was a silence as Ron and Hermione both pictured the scene in their mind's eye: a flash of green light, a woman with red hair going down with a scream. Fighting for her child until the bitter end.

Ron now began pacing methodically around their bedroom. Hermione watched him anxiously. Slowly, his breathing began to calm and his countenance began to deflate, as every muscle in his body began to come untensed. If not with relaxation, then at least... acceptance.

"OK, let's just try and keep this in perspective. Lily's gotten scared of things before - more so than some of the other little ones. Like, she got scared of those ruddy Oompa-Loompas in Wally Wanker once..."

" _Willy Wonka_ , Ronald," Hermione corrected in amusement.

"Yeah, and she had to sleep with Harry and Ginny for a week! Heck, Hugo had to sleep with us after freaking out over spiders..."

"No, that was _you_ ," Hermione corrected, the smile unable to hide itself any longer.

"It was both of us," Ron reluctantly amended.

"Because Hugo got scared of the spider in his bedroom, and then _you_ got scared of it, and _I_ had to kill it! I remember, darling. He was two."

The pair laughed. Then Hermione clapped a hand to her forehead. "Merlin's pants! I forgot I phoned Audrey to collect Rose from school, and watch Hugo, just before I left. I heard them in their rooms."

Ron simply pointed to the parchment on the nightstand, which upon further inspection conveyed that Audrey had stayed long enough to make sure the children went down and then slipped out. Satisfied, the couple changed and climbed into bed together.

"Maybe you could talk to Harry next time he comes by the shop?" Hermione pinged into the darkness. "He was really shaken up about it. I made him promise to call us if anything else happened with Lily."

"Mm-hmm. I'll talk to him. And make sure he puts a damn lock on his Pensieve."

Hermione kissed his cheek.

* * *

Harry stood in the doorway of his daughter's bedroom, watching her play with her stuffed animals. Most nights, getting Lily ready for bed was an enchanting experience. She talked to her plush hippogriff, her teddy bear. But tonight, she was chattering far less than normal, her tone more subdued and far too... adult for Harry's liking. Why couldn't magic make time stand still, and not just make it go backward?

"Auntie's gonna be all right, Roosevelt" she said to the teddy bear. "... Auntie's very brave and pretty."

"Yes, Auntie is." Harry pushed himself off the doorjamb. "She's also very smart," as he sank onto the coverlet of her bed, "and wants you to be a good little girl and go to sleep. Don't worry about it anymore."

Lily frowned out of the fur of her teddy bear. "The bad witch..."

"... with the wild black hair is all gone, and won't hurt you or Auntie or Daddy anymore," Harry rumbled gently. His heart broke with how wary she still looked. Desperate, he fished around the pile of toys. Heidi the Hippogriff? No... Mr. Tickle-Pants the Toy Pygmy Puff (Ginny wanted to wait till Lily was Hogwarts-age to get a real one)... no...

"Ah-ha!" Harry triumphantly plucked a white little snowman from the archaeological dig. Holding it in front of him, he threw his voice. "Hi, I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs!" The character was from her favorite Disney movie (or, as Ron mispronounced it, "Dizzy") and even better, had been a present from Hermione. But Lily just rolled over sadly, facing the wall. Harry lowered Olaf dejectedly. He'd always considered himself rubbish at this. To the shock of everyone else, Ginny was the natural comforter of the family. "Come on, Lily Bear. Help me out here. You know I'd do anything to get that beautiful smile back on your face..."

Lily craned her neck around. "Like singing _Let It Go_?"

"Except that," Harry deadpanned. Though he smiled, encouraged.

Lily pouted. "Uncle Ron sang it in the shower once."

"And Uncle Ron doesn't need to know that I have that on tape," Harry muttered. Ron always maintained how he hated, to use his words, _"that damn song."_ Huffing, Harry swung himself the rest of the way onto the mattress, laying down beside his daughter. Instinctively, she curled into his side.

"I'll be right here, love... go to sleep..." And within moments, father and daughter both were.

* * *

Lily's screams woke the whole house hours later.

Harry did everything he could think of to get her to calm and quiet down. Hold her. Rock her. He even swallowed his pride and hummed the first several measures of that bloody _'Let It Go.'_ Nothing worked.

"Damn it," Harry swore under his breath as he bounced a screaming Lily. "There, there, love... damn you, Adele Dazeem or whatever your bloody name is!"

Minutes passed, and Ginny came in from where she had been sleeping in the guest room, her wand lit.

"What's happening?"

"She keeps screaming for Hermione. Nothing I've done can make her stop."

"Can I help?"

"All the power to you," Harry grumbled, stressed. The door creaked open, and Albus appeared, bleary-eyed, in the doorway.

"Wha's goin' on?" he slurred sleepily.

"Sssh. Go back to bed, Al. Please," his father implored.

"How?" his son got through a yawn, hands over his ears.

"Al! Go on, I said."

Albus half-stomped from the room.

At a loss, Harry swung Lily up into his arms. "I'm taking her over to Ron and Hermione's."

"In the middle of the night?" Ginny stared.

Harry shrugged. "They'll understand." He hustled downstairs, threw some powder into the furnace and hissed, "17 Cherry Wand Lane, Ottery St. Catchpole!" With a whoosh of green flames, they were gone.

* * *

The minute Harry and Lily stepped out of the fireplace, the alarms went off. A light came to life on the landing above, and Ron - in nothing but a bathrobe and slippers - staggered down the stairs, wand out. Recognizing the intruders, he pulled up short, flicking his wand so that the alarms died away.

"Oh, it's you."

"Yeah," Harry breathed, shifting Lily on his hip. "She had a nightmare. 'Bout Hermione. I'm sorry to bother you like this, but it's an emergency. I do hope I didn't wake Rosie and Hugo."

Ron cocked his ear and listened for rumblings coming from his children's bedroom. "Nope. Come on up."

Harry followed him up to his best friends' master bedroom. Hermione was sitting up in bed, eyes wide with concern.

"S'all right, love; it was just this jackass." When Lily wasn't looking, Harry halfheartedly flipped Ron off.

Upon seeing her aunt, Lily squirmed and reached for her, flying onto the bedclothes and clambering into Hermione's lap, her godmother running her fingers through her red hair.

"Can she stay with you tonight?" Harry pleaded. "I know it's a lot to ask, and I probably did wake the kids..."

Hermione eased him with a smile. "They're heavy sleepers. It's the Weasley in them."

"Oi!" After a moment, Ron relaxed. "Course she can. But if Hugo comes in here and we start playing a game of So-They-All-Rolled-Over-And-One-Fell-Out..."

"I'll come back and get her," Harry laughed. They both knew that wasn't true: Ron would sooner sleep on the floor. "Thanks, mate!" He kissed Lily's forehead, then Hermione's cheek. "I'll be by to pick her up in the morning." He left, and Ron sank onto the mattress beside his wife and niece, Lily snuggling into both of them.

"You seriously gonna make me give her back if Hughie comes barging in here?" Hermione sighed sleepily.

"Nope. She is my favorite Potter."

"Oi!" Harry poked his head back into the bedroom, pretending to be annoyed. Ron threw a pillow at his head, and missed.

"Get out of here, you prat!"

Harry departed. Ron watched for a moment as Lily cuddled into Hermione's nightdress, fascinated.

"She likes you," he murmured. "I can tell. She's never taken such a shining to Audrey or Angelina or Fleur."

"Well," and Hermione's cheeks turned rosy pink in the darkness around her shy, affectionate smile. "I did nurse her. Those first few weeks after she was born - I still had leftover breast milk from feeding Hugo - and Ginny couldn't even pump."

Ron nodded. "I remember. Poor thing would burst into tears whenever Lily tried to latch on; Harry nearly went mental trying to find alternative formulas..."

"... and then Neville saved the day when he invented that Breastfeeding Draught - essence of flobberworm and some gillyweed, I think the ingredient was?"

"Bloody brilliant," Ron mumbled, flopping his head back into the pillow. "Did he ever patent that?"

"Mm-hmm. My office signed off on the papers."

"Neville is a very rich man," Ron chuckled, rolling over so as to envelop both girls in a hug. "I love you."

"Right back at you... Won-Won."

"If you ever teach our niece that, I'll..."

"You'll what?" she challenged with a gawking smirk.

Ron flushed. "Nothing."

"That's my good boy."

* * *

The door banged open in the wee hours of the morning, and a reddish blur jumped on his parents' bed.

"Mummy, Daddy, I had a nightmare and..." Hugo trailed off, frowning as he felt one more lump than he should have. He squinted, eyes adjusting to the light as he peered closer. The form cocooned next to his mummy was far too small to be his sister... "Lily? What are you doing here?"

"Piss off." Lily swatted at her cousin, still half-asleep. Ron had the good sense to wince, even as he raised his eyes to find his wife glowering at him.

"Don't say another word," Hermione growled.

"Say anything?"

"Ronald -"

"I didn't _say_ anything! Did I say anything?" he asked of his son. Confused, and only half-awake himself, Hugo shook his head. Ron mumbled something unintelligible, before grabbing for his pillow and an extra blanket. "Here. Hugo, lie down next to your cousin. I'm sleeping on the floor."

"For the rest of your natural life..." Hermione muttered through clenched teeth, as a fuming Ron awkwardly tried to get comfortable on the hardwood. Though she knew, by the next night, she would let him back into their bed.


End file.
